I heard they called it loneliness

I looked up all the symptoms

Confirming every one

Yet no combination of disease

Helped to explain my condition

The research was for nothing

There was no scan for this

I didn’t need a doctor

And pity was worthless

I heard they called it loneliness

This thing that afflicted me

The prognosis, it was very grim

And specialists did not come cheap

Loneliness? I thought

That’s something for the weak

I have friends, they’re everywhere

So why am I in need?

They hadn’t told me then

That it varies from man to man

That the more I fought to stave it off

The more aggressive it became

Mine, it was the very worst

Not healed by company

Mine looked for something different

Not found in those near me

It looked for what I’d once had

What I’d let slip through my grasp

It demanded from me the one thing

That I could never get back

I heard they called it loneliness

This thing that afflicted me

No cure, they said without a smile

At least, not one that you can reach

The symptoms though! They finally said

Brightening up at last

We can manage them, help you deal

But for that we’ll need your heart

For me that was a trade

That I simply could not make

So I shacked up with loneliness

We split the rent two ways

He keeps to himself, is neat enough

And always pays on time

But the lights go out and he takes up space

Most of which is mine

It could be worse, I tell myself

And I claim there’s no regret

But were I to have my time again

I’d leave the prick on read